This I Believe

I believe in stopping at kids’ lemonade stands. Selling lemonade is a fairly large effort for children. They must make the signs, make the lemonade, and stand for hours (with no chairs) in the hot summer sun to sell a seventy-five cent cup of lemonade. When I was ten years old, that is exactly what my younger brother and I did. We liked the idea of making money, however nominal it would be, and, for us, selling lemonade was a part of childhood that we couldn’t miss out on.

Some cars would pull over to the corner and ask for a cup of lemonade. We filled it to the brim and graciously handed it over to our customer in exchange for their money (which was often more than seventy-five cents). Drivers would occasionally get out of their cars to come over and compliment us on our enthusiasm and determination – some people generously tipped us and didn’t take the lemonade!

For every car that stopped for lemonade, there were many more that drove past without even glancing at us. I didn’t think much of it then, but now I wonder how people can drive by without even acknowledging children with at least a wave or beep of the horn with a smile? Are they too busy even to do that?

Stopping to buy some lemonade from children requires very little effort and seems like a little thing. When people did pull over, they really made my day. Did they realize what their small act of buying lemonade did for me? I think so, because I could see my wide grin reflected back at me with their smiles.

There are little things people can do everyday to make others happy, which ultimately makes themselves happy. I try to do these small things because, like people stopping to buy lemonade for me, I know it makes people happier. I try to hold the door open for people, even if it means waiting for a short time – I’m not in a hurry. When someone else does something for me, the least I can do for them is say “thank you.” I make it a point to send thank you notes because I know, however brief they may be, they will make a difference in someone else’s life.

I was recently in New York City and while observing the many pedestrians make their way down the sidewalk, I noticed one thing that they all had in common: Nobody was smiling. Every person that I could see sported an expressionless face. I smiled at people when I made eye contact. Some even smiled back.

I hope and believe that my small deeds of kindness will inspire others as others have inspired me. As I grow older, I will make it a point to stop at kids’ lemonade stands. I will continue to smile at people in an attempt to make their day a little better and show that small things can and do make a difference.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.